For black people searching for the meaning in our genome, taking a trip based on newfound DNA results can be life-changing — but here’s what you need to know first.
For as long as I can remember, travel has always been a way to hold a mirror up to my surroundings, an attempt to locate myself in the wider world. As a child, I was fortunate to experience family holidays in Europe: long, languid summers in Ireland, wet walks through glossy fields with my Irish mother, sandcastle building on beach trips in cold and clear waters with my British father, and milky-skinned brother. Then there were weeks spent in Spain, Austria, France, and the Balearic islands. However, it was during the leisure time with my white family that I became more attuned to the visual differences between us all, prompting me to question my own identity in relation to those closest to me.
Although my childhood was characterized by the rituals of regular vacations and abundant love, I grew up in a white household with no explanation as to why or how I appeared black. The absence of discussion on race, privilege, and discrimination increasingly impacted my world as I grew up, yet my questions largely went unanswered by my parents. Additionally, race and its meaning remained totally off-limits in our house.
However, when we left our white community to vacation abroad, the veil of silence was lifted. Race followed me beyond suburbia, where I could not escape its impact among new faces—some of which reflected my own appearance more than my parents did. This removed greater normalcy allowed my racial identity to emerge vividly: from growing a dark shade of brown in the Portuguese sun, to being spoken to in Spanish on the island of Tenerife and being ushered into airport lines with Jamaican families. My early family trips ignited a deep-rooted desire to uncover more about my place in the world. Travel illuminated new possibilities, revealing spaces where I could belong surrounded by individuals who resembled me and recognized the parts of my identity that I had not yet claimed.
As I matured, the silence surrounding my identity morphed into a deafening roar that I could no longer ignore. When I lost my father to cancer at age 22, I thought I had reached emotional rock bottom. His death nearly destroyed me, but it also granted me the impetus to seek the truth about who I was. Following paternity testing, I discovered my mother had been unfaithful to the father who raised me, with a black man she now knows nothing about. Although this revelation obliterated the final remnants of my world, it freed me from the half-life I was living. I yearned to experience spaces I had been too scared to enter and to discover cultures I had willfully ignored, as they reminded me of our shared experiences. In my youth, belonging felt essential, which led me to stay away from these groups and become complicit in denying my identity. The results of my DNA testing liberated me from living a diminished, less authentic life and propelled me in my quest for self-discovery.
Consequently, I left home to immerse myself in black-majority countries, permitting me to explore vibrant urban landscapes and educate myself on what it truly meant to be part of an innovative diaspora. Solo travel transformed into a thoroughly educational experience, serving as a tonic for my grieving soul, which had grown weary from being confined to spaces where I was not fully seen. I relocated to New York City’s Crown Heights neighborhood for six months while working remotely as a freelance writer, voraciously consuming literature written by black authors. I then ventured to Vietnam on a press trip, where I wrote about the hair extension industry, tracing the journey of extensions from the heads of Vietnamese women to shops in London and NYC, catering to black women like me. Afterward, I traveled to Havana, Cuba, where I organized home stays with locals and marveled at the resourcefulness of black Cubans amid evident racial disparities. My travels also led me through the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Mexico. In Mexico City, I took an ancestral DNA test that revealed, to my astonishment, that half of my genetic ancestry likely stems from Nigeria. I documented these findings—along with a critique of the DNA testing industry—in my book, “Raceless,” which is available now.
For Black Americans, a Heritage Trip to West Africa Can Be Life-Changing
Although my story may sound particularly unique, it reflects a growing wave of black travelers motivated by genealogical curiosity and the recent explosion in affordable at-home DNA testing. The global DNA testing market is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2022. Moreover, heritage tours, ancestry travel, genealogy trips, or DNA travel have surged in popularity over recent years. In 2019, 23andMe collaborated with Airbnb to enable customers to create travel and rental packages based on their DNA results—the same year Ghana declared its “Year of Return” to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first recorded enslaved Africans to the United States. Furthermore, when travel company Black & Abroad arranged heritage trips to the continent, they reclaimed the phrase “go back to Africa” to celebrate black individuals reconnecting with their roots.
I have also explored the ethics and reliability of DNA testing for black individuals, as discussed in my book and my Audible series, The Secrets In Us. Throughout my research, I learned that ancestral DNA results are accurate at a broad continental level, though country breakdowns for Africa can often be unreliable. This inaccuracy stems from the insufficient data on individuals of African descent, which can change as databases are updated. Furthermore, various companies intentionally target black consumers, fully aware that gaps in knowledge about self-identity often exist within our communities. In some instances, they have dubious methods for acquiring additional DNA samples from Africa and disturbing connections to law enforcement agencies with whom they have a history of collusion.
Therefore, it is crucial for black travelers to understand exactly what they are consenting to before sending their saliva samples in pursuit of planning a dream trip. Nonetheless, I recognize that for many, including myself, who have been deprived of access to their heritage, DNA testing presents an enticing opportunity to unveil hidden aspects of our past for a reasonable price and minimal hassle. The legacy of slavery and the pervasive themes of secrecy, silence, and shame for black children raised in white households result in many individuals being unable to rely on family narratives or well-preserved records to trace their origins.
For countless individuals, a clear connection exists between DNA testing and travel, with implications that extend beyond personal significance, intertwining deeply with the political sphere and human desire to comprehend our purpose and place in the world. Historically, the movement of black bodies has been heavily controlled within many spaces, making travel—especially for pleasure—a subversive act for black individuals, and reclaiming personal histories through travel is even more significant.
I remain hopeful that by merging genealogical research with ancestral results, I will one day locate my black biological relatives and uncover more about the country that contributes so significantly to both my appearance and sense of self. DNA testing, when viewed through the lens of travel, reveals the tapestry of humanity woven from thousands of cultures and countries, creating a rich mosaic of experiences, ethnicities, and genetic connections that defy national boundaries. For black individuals in search of meaning in our genome, embarking on a journey inspired by newfound DNA results can be transformative, granting us insight into cultural understanding that transcends mere percentages. We merely need to know exactly what we engage in before dispatching our saliva samples in the mail.
